Therianthropy Terms and Definitions

Therian Nation

Updated November 23, 2016. More sources added for the term Contherianthropy.

“Therianthropy Terms and Definitions” is now available for viewing on the Therian Nation Youtube Channel.
https://youtu.be/N6Ym8XgT_0U

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The following is the written script for the video.

Hello and welcome to Therian Nation. I’m your host, Shannon Jackson. In this video, we will define terms that are commonly used within the Therianthropy Community. Some older terms that are no longer used will also be included because of their historic importance to the community. The previous video was an introduction to Modern Therianthropy, and we recommend that you watch that video first, if you have not already done so.

Before we get into the terms, we first need to understand how and why these community specific words came about.

“As the community developed, there was a need for a common language, especially since it was developing on such a language intensive media like the Internet. It became important for individuals to make themselves understood by other people. Personal languages morphed according to peer influences to form a relatively consensual vocabulary that could be understood by the rest of the community.

Finally, as the need to interact with the larger human community arose - commentaries were appearing on mass media, misidentification with other groups were developing - the common language had to accommodate the larger society.” - Therian Timeline

For Therians who have just discovered their identity and are new to the community, it’s best not to concern yourself too much with labels. It’s okay that you don’t have any clear answers right now. You’re not expected to. Be honest with yourself, and honest with other members of the community when you are questioned. Focus on your feelings and experiences. Being mindful of those will help along the path of self-discovery. Don’t force yourself to fit into a label. Knowing for sure if you are Therian and finding a theriotype can take months or years. Every individual is different.

Now, let’s get into the terms and their definitions.

Therianthrope/Therian: the current term for a person who has a strong internal self-identification as a being of a non-human species. Around 2005, Therian became the commonly used short form of Therianthrope, replacing the old term Were. The term “therianthropy” was first mentioned in AHWW on December, 13, 1994.

Alt.horror.werewolves (AHWW): a Usenet group created on November 16, 1992. It was created for the discussion of horror movies and books containing werewolves. A year later, in 1993, members began to discuss how they spiritually identified as animals and felt more instinctual. AHWW was the origin of the online Therian community.

Were: an old community term that is short for werewolf or any were-creature. A person who says “I am a Were.” means that he or she is an animal in human form. Used by the members of alt.horror.werewolves (AHWW) beginning in 1993 and up until the term Therian became more popular around 2005.

Phenotype: an old community term which referred to the species that is a Therian’s identity. First used on November 28, 1993 on alt.horrow.werewolves. This term is still in use by some therians online, but the term was eventually changed to get away from the misnomer of a phenotype being a biological term about the physically observable expression of a genetic trait. The continued usage of the term phenotype for a theriotype is not forbidden but it is unpreferred.

Wereside: another old community term used as a distinction from the “humanside” with the “wereside” being the part of a person that resembles a nonhuman animal. Wereside began to replace Phenotype in 1995. Wereside is still used by some older members of the community, but its use is also unpreferred.

Theriotype/Therioside: now the most common words for the animal which is an individual’s identity. Some believe that a theriotype develops as part of their mentality much in the same way that their personality develops. An example is “I have a goat theriotype.” Though many argue that one should just say, “I am a goat.” The term came into use in 1999.

Werecard: a short questionnaire that allows individuals to share information about themselves with the larger community. First used in 1994 on AHWW.

Howl: a real life gathering or meeting of Weres/Therians, usually to go camping. The term was originally used on AHWW and the first “Howl”, the 1994 Harvest Howl, was organized by Smash Greywolf in Ohio, USA.

Greymuzzle: an older member of the community who may be seen as wiser and more experienced. First used on AHWW, they were the ‘backbones’ of the community who had been in the group the longest.

Otherkin: first coined in 1990 in the Elfinkind Digest mailing list. A variant of the word “otherkind,” it referred to any creature that was not Elven. Between the late 1990’s and early 2000’s it became a blanket term signifying any person who identified strongly with a nonhuman existence - often including Vampires, Therians, and other people with animal self-images.

Awakening: the process of realizing and accepting that you are a Therian and then discovering your theriotype. Not every Therian has experienced an awakening, so this is not necessary to identify as Therian.

Shift: a change of state when a therianthrope becomes more like their theriotype in a non-physical manner. Shifting can occur with varying strength and frequency and be both a positive or negative experience. Shifting can be voluntary or involuntary. “…shifted” is the state of mind that I’m in when I feel closest to my animal spirit. It’s a feeling of heightened awareness, a sense of prowess and well-being.“

There are many different types of shifts, and we will cover those in the next video.

The following words refer to types or states of Therianthropy.

Polytherian: Therians who identify with more than one animal. Polytherian replaced the old term Polywere which had first been use in 1996.

Cladotherianthropy/Cladotherian: a person who does not identify as a distinct species, but instead feels a broader identity encompassing an entire genus or family, such as Canis or Canidae. Cladotherianthropy was coined in 2003 by Mokele, a reptile cladotherian, on the therian forum called Wereness Forums.

The following terms are used to describe integration of the humanside and animalside of one’s personality and how that relates to the frequency of shifting.

Vacillant Therianthropy/Vacillant Therian: when shifts occur more smoothly, as if on a sliding scale. Refers to a Therian whose animalside and humanside are integrated such that one or the other may still come to the front of the mind noticeably stronger than the other, as needed or as desired. Shifts seem to happen gradually and tend to follow a more consistent pattern. Though unexpected stimuli may trigger sharper or more sudden shifts. Vacillant Therianthropy was a community coined term in 2004 or 2005.

"People at this stage of integration seem to talk less and less about their therioside feeling separate and more about how it and the humanside have mixed, or about how they have one unified internal image of themselves that may vary with shifting and with time. This is a generalization though.” - Therian Timeline

Suntherianthropy/Suntherian (syntherianthropy/syntherian): A lot of debate was centered around the creation of this word on April 18th, 2005 by WordWolf. It was not a community coined term. Instead WordWolf created the term to describe his own personal experiences.

WordWolf defined a suntherian as “a therian whose therioside (primary or sole therioside) is integrated into his baseline personality. However, that integration does not prevent him/her from having minor fluctuations of mood that feel slightly more animal, or slightly less animal. He/she can feel them both at the same time, human and animal. He/she can not mental shift into his/her base theriotype (whether primary or sole).”

Contherianthropy/Contherian: a person who has fully integrated human and animal mental states. No shifts of any kind are experienced because the human and animal mindsets are consistent, usually half animal, half human at all times.

“This term was defined initially by Lion Templin in 1997 with his essays on the subject, and the word derived from the Latin “constans” meaning unchanging/constant. It came about in controversy at the time from people in the community claiming that it was mandatory for therians to shift, but Lion Templin’s term of contherianthropy brought about a concept that was new and is now widely accepted in the therian community.” - Project Shift

Many people think that contherians cannot feel their animal side, but that is incorrect because contherians do have animalistic experiences. They just do not shift into their animal because they are always in a state where they are one with the animal.

Some members of the community consider Vacillant Therianthropy and Sun-/Syntherianthropy to be interchangeable. Others think that the terms have slightly different meanings. The use of the terms Vacillant Therian, Sun-/Syntherian, and Contherian were also debated in the community because some members felt that there was no need to break down Therianthropy into types. They thought this would divide the community. Others thought it was important to have labels to help educate newly awakened Therians, and the public so that they could get a broader understanding of our experiences. These terms also make it easier for Therians to find others who have similar experiences. Having these terms well defined could also be important for future research into the formation of the Therian identity.

Now, whenever a new term is coined, usually by an individual and not by a need in the larger community as a whole, discussion and debate still arises. Most Therians now feel that we have now adequately defined all of the experiences that need to be defined. Any more terms will likely cause confusion. Also, it would be difficult to create new terminology every time someone experienced something slightly different. The constant generation of new terms found on Tumblr and social media is troublesome for the more private community forums. A vocal minority of less experienced individuals is having a negative impact on the community.

Interestingly, it has been observed that these terms are mainly applied online, and rarely used in real life.

“Most weres out there have integrated who they are into regular life and don’t bother with semantics. They just live like normal people.” - Swiftpaw, Jaguar Therian (from public internet archive, see source below)

“It doesn’t seem like there’s any emphasis on labels in the offline community. We don’t seem to use much jargon at all when we get together in real life.” - Wolf Van Zandt (theriotype, age, location, and occupation will appear in the video with permission)

“Yep the jargon just doesn’t seem to matter at offline gatherings.” - Ashen ( theriotype, age, location, and occupation will appear in the video with permission)

Links to public sources used to gather information for this video have been provided in the description below. The next video will cover shifts that Therians experience in more detail. If you have any questions, you are welcome to leave us a comment or send us a message. Therian Nation will answer to the best of our knowledge and ability. Subscribe to Therian Nation to learn and stay informed about Therianthropy and the Therian community. Thank you for watching.

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List of Public Sources for this video

Therian Timeline - Words and Concepts - http://www.theriantimeline.com/therianthropy/words_and_concepts

Project Shift - Terms and Definitions - http://project-shift.net/terms-definitions/

O. Scribner, “Otherkin lexicon: A multi-lingual dictionary of jargon used in the communities of otherkin, therianthropes, and other similar peoples, v. 0.1 Abridged,” last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner, Page 24 - http://orion.kitsunet.net/nonfic.html

O. Scribner,  “Otherkin timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. 8 September, 2012. [ Otherkin Page 5 and 26 ] [History of online Therian Community starts on Page 28] [ Therianthropy/therianthrope term Page 30-32] [Contherianthropy term Page 43] [Suntherian term page 75] - http://orion.kitsunet.net/nonfic.html

Lion Templin’s archive of animal spirituality essays (web archive) - http://web.archive.org/web/20051211222158/http://www.leonine.com/~lion/cthwww/

House of Chimeras, Informative Articles, Between Forest and Sea - http://houseofchimeras.weebly.com/informative-articles.html

Alt.horror.werewolves FAQ by KatmanDu - http://www.faqs.org/faqs/werewolves/core-faq/

Draft Copy - AHWW FAQ ( Original post by KatmanDu) - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/YAgxK26bbUE

Another version of the AHWW FAQ - http://www.firelion.org/raven/ahwwfaq/index.html

Phenotype - November 28 1993 - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/Gi-b9ACNAVU

Wereside - February, 9, 1995 - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/ymoR_lc96UA

Polywere - June 1996 - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/polywere|sort:date/alt.horror.werewolves/i8t_dIsvFac/epuGUdssnocJ

Therianthropy - December, 13, 1994 - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/therianthropy|sort:date/alt.horror.werewolves/-Bl7zmVezJs/lCpsZ-AAUToJ

Werecard - September 5 1994 - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/T0aZwgNsFek

Cladotherianthropy, Mokele, About Page of Personal Website, The Jungle, February 14, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20040214041246/http://www.therianthropy.org/mokele/about.htm

Velvet Wings, “Contherianthropy and Vacillant Therianthropy”, January 6, 2016.http://felinity.co.uk/therianthropy/contherianthropy-vs-vacillant-therianthropy/

Joshua Lion Templin, “A short view on modern contherianthropy,” Lion Templin’s Archive of Animal Spirituality Essays, 19 Jan 1997,http://web.archive.org/web/20051211222158/http://www.leonine.com/~lion/cthwww/

Liesk, “A Clear Look at Contherianthropy”, January 1, 2007.http://web.archive.org/web/20070401103850/http://liesk.feralscribes.org/essay2.php

Akhila, “The Contherian FAQ”, April 2005. http://akhila.feralscribes.org/2005/the-contherian-faq/

Rantings and Ravings by Jakkal, “Contherianthropy, Suntherianthropy, BStherianthropy, Apatherianthropy… ” 14 March 2006 - http://bitchcraft.livejournal.com/1968.html

“Why our language shouldn’t be so hung up in slang” by Swiftpaw - (web archive) - http://web.archive.org/web/20040324003900/http://www.otherwonders.com/swiftpaws/therian/old/myterms.html

Shifters.org Encyclopedia (web archive) - http://web.archive.org/web/20060901112859/http://www.therianthropy.org/SO/encyclopedia.htm

Opening Title Music - “News Theme 3” by Ithaca Audio Ltd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. http://www.ithacaaudio.com/2010/12/07/news-theme/